Break up with plastic this V-Day: UN environment chief

As the world prepares to mark Valentine’s Day, the UN Environment Programme head has urged people around the world to make a bold move and ‘break up’ with plastic.

“This Valentine’s Day we are urging people to break up with throwaway bottles, straws, utensils and bags and help turn the tide on plastic waste,” the head of UN Environment Programme, Erik Solheim, said.

A two-minute Valentine’s Day film, ‘It’s not me, it’s you’ explores dependence on single-use plastics through the story of a difficult break-up, but the video has a happy ending: A newfound love in sustainable alternatives.

“Our love-in with disposable plastics has a toxic side effect,” Solheim said about the film.

These environmentally unfriendly products ultimately end up in seas and oceans where they endanger fish, birds, turtles and other creatures that mistake it for food or become entangled.

Plastic waste has also entered the human food chain with health consequences that are not yet fully understood.